


He Didn't Come

by muscatmusic18



Series: December Prompts [11]
Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Angst, December Prompt Challenge, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 02:16:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8826457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muscatmusic18/pseuds/muscatmusic18
Summary: Daniel's ready to walk out on his marriage, and Peggy gives him an ultimatum.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to geekruminations and irisdouglasiana for convincing me to make this angsty.

Everything was going to hell.

She’d been working too much, and he’d noticed. For months at a time, Peggy wouldn’t crawl into their bed until the early hours of the morning, and then she’d be up and gone before the sun would rise. He never even saw her.

On the occasion she would have a day off, he would make breakfast in bed for her, full of her favorites, hoping to entice her to eat; Daniel had noticed her ribs beginning to jut out, her spine becoming more and more visible. But, when entering their bedroom, expecting to find her there, she wouldn’t be. Instead she was in their office, already deep into paperwork, only giving him a quick smile before diving back into her work.

He loved her, god, did he, but he wanted a life. He wanted kids, he wanted tranquility, but most of all, he didn’t want to wait at home while he wondered if his wife was dead or alive. He knew it was part of the job when he married Peggy Carter, but he wanted to be by her side, not sitting on the couch at home, But, she refused to lose him, so almost immediately, the weren’t going out in the field together, and soon, he wasn’t going out into the field at all.

He was patient, he was kind, and most of all, he waited. But nothing was happening. It was the same routine of not seeing her, even when she was home, so one night, when they were at the dinner table but not talking because of the file she had her nose buried in, he snapped.

“Dammit, Peggy, I’m done with this!”

Her head snapped up, eyes wide with surprise. “Done with what?”

“This!” He dropped his fork and gestured around them. “The not talking, the not being able to see you. This isn’t a marriage, this is like having a roommate that you don’t particularly care for. I never see you, we don’t talk. I mean for God’s sake, the last time I heard say words other than ‘hello’ or ‘thanks’ was months ago. I can’t even remember the last time we had sex-”

“Oh, are you having an affair?” She accused.

“That’s not what I said! See, this is what I mean. I say the word ‘sex’, and it’s such a foreign concept to you that you think I’m cheating on you.”

“Well are you?” She crossed her arms, eyebrows raised.

“No! I would never do that!” He reasoned, not believing her accusations

“Then if you’re so insistent, let’s do it now. Let’s have a good fuck and get it all out of our systems. Hell, if the bedroom is too far away, let’s drop our pants right now. There’s a solid table, take me here, Daniel.”

“That’s not what this is about. You’re my wife, Peg, and I want to see my wife for more than two fucking seconds.”

“I’m running an agency, we’re about to go global, I can’t spend all my time with you.”

“And I understand that. But is it really so hard to make small talk at the dinner table?” He pounded his fist on the table, so uncharacteristic of him, but his blood was boiling. He saw her flinch, but ignored it.

“You know what? I’m done here.” He slipped off his wedding ring, dropping it on the table before storming out, grabbing his keys and slamming the door behind him.

She sat in silence for a minute, jaw working, whether to hold back tears or in anger, she didn’t know. Finally, she took a deep breath, cleared their dishes, and grabbed his wedding ring. From there, she made her way to their bedroom, sitting down while studying his ring. Peggy slipped it onto her thumb, noticing how it just barely fit, almost slipping off, but not quite.

After staring at the ring on her thumb, she grabbed his pillow, curling up with it and his favorite blanket, drifting off in the clothes she’d worn that day and surrounded by the smell of him.

~~~~~~~~~

It had been almost two weeks since their fight, and they still hadn’t spoken. It had taken courage, but Peggy had realized that Daniel was right. She worked too much, and barely paid any attention to him. She’d failed as a wife.

Finally, when she couldn’t take it any more, she picked up the phone in her office, dialing his number. It rang a few times before his voice came through.

“Hello?” He sounded tired.

Her breath caught in her throat, tears filling her eyes at the sound of him. “Daniel, it me.”

She heard a sigh and the sound of the receiver shifting in his hand. “Please don’t hang up.” She choked out, scared to lose him again, but the sound stopped, so she continued.

“You don’t have to talk, just listen. I know I haven’t been the best wife, and I realize that now. I said some things during our fight that I wish I could take back, but I can’t, and I only want your forgiveness. Hell, I’ll grovel at your feet if you want, but I just want to make amends and fix our marriage.” She heard nothing from the other line, so she continued.

“Remember that park we found a couple years ago? We don’t go there often, but I remember it because you proposed to me there. It was the happiest night of my life. If you want to work on our marriage, meet me there Friday night, seven o’clock. If I see you there, then I‘ll know it’s not too late, and we can fix this. But if not…” She took a breath, trying to keep the tears falling from her eyes. “Then I’ll know we’re done.” Her voice broke, so she bit her lip, trying to keep a sob in her throat. “I’ll send your things to you, get the divorce papers ready, and it can be over in less than a month.” She bit her lip harder, tears now streaming down her cheeks. 

“I hope to see you there.” She hung up, letting out a shaky breath before continuing with her day.

~~~~~~~~~

6:55 on Friday night, and Peggy sat down on a bench, fingering his ring which was now on a chain around her neck, away from view of everybody, but close to her heart. She wasn’t really a religious person, but now, she prayed.

7:05, and he wasn’t there. Maybe he was running late, she thought, so she just touched his ring again, and waited.

And waited.

Finally, 7:45, she let a tear fall. He wasn’t there. He was never going to be there. The love of her life was gone.

She sat for a few minutes, composing herself and bracing to stand up and become a divorced woman.

Peggy pulled her hands from her pockets, cursing herself for forgetting to bring gloves on a December night, but the pain wasn’t anything compared to the knife in her heart.

She stood, preparing to walk away, when a soft voice came from behind.

“Peg?”

She whirled around, forcefully exhaling at the sight of her love standing in front of her, in the flesh.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I wasn’t-”

“That doesn’t matter now.” She ran towards him, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. “You’re here, that’s all that does.”

He reciprocated the hug, cupping the back of her head and pulling her close. “I’m here. I’m not leaving.” He shushed.

Sobs began to escape her, wracking her whole body as her tears soaked his coat, the stress of the previous weeks pouring themselves out. He pulled them down onto the bench, sitting hard as she landed in his lap, but all that didn’t matter because they were both there.

“I’m so sorry.” She sobbed, gripping him tighter as he pulled her closer.

“I am too. We both made mistakes, but I’m here. I love you, Peggy, I can’t give up on you. I’m not leaving you, I’m here.”

They sat there for eternity, neither moving from each other’s arms. It was getting late, and it was cold, but the feeling of his wife in his arms felt too good, her sobs diminishing, but he kept murmuring, for the both of them. There would be work to do, but for now, they just sat.


End file.
